Uncertainty Reigns Supreme, Stocks Sink, China Says No

  • March 5, 2009
  • Dave Goodboy

Uncertainty reigned supreme in the stock market today. China said no to the proposed stimulus package knocking stocks back from yesterday’s rally as hopes were dashed of Chinese support. Stocks hit levels not seen since 1996 as financials and auto makers dropped hard on an uncertain economic future. The critical Non Farm Payroll figure will be released tomorrow. The expected number is grim further weighing on stocks. The DJIA plunged -281.40 to 6594.44, the Nasdaq gave back -54.15 to 1299.59 and the broad based S&P 500 dropped -30.32 to 682.55.

Citigroup
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Family Dollar Stores
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Gymboree
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Weight Watcher’s
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Oil fell $1.77 to $43.55, Gold surged $21.10 to $927.80, and the fear index VIX jumped 5.49% to 50.17.

Market Snapshot

Dow

 -281.40 6594.44

NASDAQ

 -54.15 1299.59

S&P 500

 -30.32 682.55

Economic
News

Personal Income (Jan): Consensus: -0.2%, Prior: -0.2%

Personal Spending (Jan): Consensus: 0.4%, Prior: -1.0%

Core PCE (Jan): Consensus: 0.1%, Prior: 0.0%

Construction Spending (Jan): Consensus: -1.5%, Prior: -1.4%

ISM Index (Feb): Consensus: 33.8, Prior: 35.6

Pending Home Sales (Jan): Consensus: -3.0%, Prior: -6.3%

Auto Sales (Feb): Consensus: NA, Prior: NA

Truck Sales (Feb): Consensus: NA, Prior: NA

ADP Employment Change (Feb): Consensus: -613K, Prior: -522K

ISM Services (Feb): Consensus: 41.3, Prior: 42.9

Crude Inventories (Feb 27): Consensus: NA, Prior: 717K

Fed Beige Book: Consensus: NA, Prior: NA

Productivity-Rev. (Q4): Consensus: 1.6%, Prior: 3.2%

Unit Labor Costs (Q4): Consensus: 3.4%, Prior: 1.8%

Initial Claims (Feb 28): Consensus: NA, Prior: 667K

Factory Orders (Jan): Consensus: -2.1%, Prior: -3.9%

Average Workweek (Feb): Consensus: 33.3, Prior: 33.3

Hourly Earnings (Feb): Consensus: 0.3%, Prior: 0.3%

Nonfarm Payrolls (Feb): Consensus: -615K, Prior: -598K

Unemployment Rate (Feb): Consensus: 7.9%, Prior: 7.6%

Consumer Credit (Jan): Consensus: -$4.0B, Prior: -$6.6B